Mary Laver, the wife the Hall of Famer Rod Laver, has died after a long illness at their home in Carlsbad, northern San Diego County. She was 84.

Mary Bensen was born in DeKalb, Ill., on Jan. 23, 1928. The Australian Laver said they met at the Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Los Angeles and were married on June 20, 1966, in San Rafael, Calif. Rod Laver is the only person to win two calendar year Grand Slams.

“There is no way I can play or feel well if there is something wrong between me and Mary,” Laver wrote in his book, The Education of a Tennis Player. “Making Mary my wife was indeed my grandest triumph."